


the (not-so) secret life of the american spider-child

by nasa



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Dad!Tony, Fluff, Gen, Identity Reveal, i saw the prompt and i was consumed, just the tiniest touch of angst in there too I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:29:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11938287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasa/pseuds/nasa
Summary: "Dad -"“YOU WERE BITTEN BY A RADIOACTIVE SPIDER AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!?!”---originally based on a prompt that said: "Imagine if one day Tony found out his son Peter Parker Stark has been moonlighting as a super hero with flimsy, unsafe, DIY costume and oh he wAS BITTEN BY A RADIOACTIVE SPIDER AND DIDN’T THINK TO TELL HIS POOR OLD DAD"





	the (not-so) secret life of the american spider-child

“Hey, Dad!” Peter calls as he steps out of the elevator, pulling his headphones from his ears. “You up here?”

“Peter,” Tony’s voice comes floating out of the kitchen, something low and dangerous in it that makes Peter stop in his tracks. “How about you come in here and have a seat.”

Peter swallows hard. Shit. This can’t be good. Did Tony get a message from his school about something? Maybe he saw his Calculus grade, or maybe he heard about Liz’s party, or maybe - but no, he couldn’t know _that_ , Peter’s been so careful.

“Sure, just one -“

“Now, Peter.”

Peter swallows again. His heart is beating like a hummingbird in his chest. _It’s fine,_ he tells himself, _it’s probably nothing, you’re probably just overreacting -_

He pushes open the door to the kitchen and his heart stops.

Tony’s leaning against the kitchen island, arms crossed over his chest, something terrifyingly furious his eyes. Sitting in front of him, bundled on the kitchen table, is Peter’s trashy DIY spider suit.

_Shit,_ Peter thinks. _Shit shit shit shit shit shit._

“Sit,” Tony orders, and Peter obeys instantly, his backpack falling beside him. For a long moment, Tony just stares at him. Peter tries to meet his eyes, but the look he finds there is so furious - furious, upset, disappointed, something else Peter can’t quite fathom seeing in his father’s eyes - that he has to look down instead. That just puts him at eye level with the suit though, which isn’t much better.

_“So,”_ Tony starts, voice tense like he’s trying to keep from screaming. “You want to explain to me what the hell this is, _Spiderman?”_

Peter swallows. “Um,” he says. “Well, I, uh, well -“

“Come on, Peter. Work that genius little brain of yours, I know you’re more eloquent than that.”

“Well, um, I, uh, may have been doing some extra extracurriculars lately -“

“You _may have_ been! What you _may have been_ doing is fighting crime! In a sweatsuit! Without telling me!” Tony’s not screaming but he might as well be - it’s worse, Peter thinks, like this, his voice so cold and harsh.

“It’s - it’s not like I’m defenseless, I can handle myself -“

“Oh I can see that! I see that, in the Youtube videos, I see that you seem to be stopping cars and buses and swinging from buildings and doing acrobatics that are frankly shocking given that I know you’ve never been to a tumbling class in your life, Peter, so you want to explain to me _how_ you managed to become Simone Biles overnight?” Tony pauses for a moment, waves a hand when Peter doesn’t speak. “Go ahead! I’m sure I’m just going to _love_ this!”

“Well, I, uh. Well, you remember the, uh, the tour of Oscorp I did a few months ago? There, well, there were some, um, spiders, there, that were being experimented on, and it wasn’t deliberate! I swear, it wasn’t, but I got lost, and, uh, trapped, in the uh, cage with them, and I, uh, got bit, by one. A radioactive spider. And the next morning I woke up and I just had these powers -“

“Stop. I’m sorry. Back up the fucking truck. You were what?”

“Um -“

“No seriously, restate it, I cannot have possibly heard that correctly -“

“I was, uh, bitten. By a radioactive spider.”

There is a long, long pause.

“YOU WERE BITTEN BY A RADIOACTIVE SPIDER AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!?!”

“Dad -“

“Oh, no, why would you do that, I just have, I don’t know, FOUR doctorates, extensive knowledge in radiation, and friends including your Uncle Bruce who could ACTUALLY HELP!”

“Dad, look, I’m -“

“The next words out of your mouth better be ‘quitting being a superhero and groveling for forgiveness for the next twenty-six years’ because I swear to God, Peter, you’ve taken at least that many years off of my life with this _stunt -“_

“It’s not a stunt, Dad!”

“Oh, really, it’s not, is it, you’re a real superhero, that’s why you’re wearing a costume made out of old sweatpants and an ugly sweatshirt from - Jesus where did you get this, _Kohl’s_ -“

“My options were limited! There’s not exactly a store for superhero outfits -“

“Wow, I can’t imagine why that would be! It’s almost like superheroes are - gasp - highly trained individuals who get body armor built by _qualified people,_ not kids that get bit by a spider and decide they _feel_ like risking their life every other day to keep someone’s sandwich from being stolen -“

“I just wanted to be like you, okay!”

Tony pauses.

“I just - “ Peter swallows, looking down at his hands. “You’ve saved so many people, and - and you give up so much for me and I just thought - you know, I could do the same, I could save people, and that way it would be worth it, everything you’ve done for me, and I could -“ He breaks off, shaking his head.

“Peter,” Tony says, and his voice isn’t quite soft, it's more tired, but it’s normal enough that Peter manages to look up at him, his vision blurry around the edges. “Peter you don’t need to do anything to be worthy. You’re worth -  _everything_ to me. Whether you spend your free time building Lego skyscrapers or rescuing puppies from dog fighting rings, that isn't gonna change.”

Peter fidgets. “I know,” he says, “I know, it’s just -“ he sighs. “I have these powers, now. I have this - ability to stop things, and it’s a gift, you know, but it’s a responsibility, too. Because, if you can stop things, and you don’t, then they’re your fault. Don’t tell me you don’t understand that.”

Because Peter may have been adopted after Tony became Iron Man, but he knows what happened, he’s read the logs and the interviews and he’s watched the videos, those public and those that he manages to persuade JARVIS to show him. If there’s anything that Tony understands, it’s responsibility.

After a long moment, Tony sighs, slumping back against the counter, raising a hand to his face. “Jesus, kid,” he says, and Peter is horrified to hear his voice sounds thick. “You can’t fucking do this to me.”

“Are you going to cry?” Peter asks hurriedly. “Because, because I don’t want you to cry, I didn’t mean to make you cry, I can go, I can find Pepper or call Rhodey or - “

“No, I’m not going to cry,” Tony says gruffly, raising his head from his hands. His eyes look red, but Peter doesn’t mention it. Tony stares at Peter for a long moment, and Peter just looks back. Finally, Tony sighs. “You’re really not going to stop with this, are you?”

“No,” Peter says resolutely. “I mean, you can try to make me, but short of locking me in my room all day -“

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Tony says, “rebellious teenager, I’ve been there, believe me, I know -“ and he’s shaking his head, but there’s something there, in his expression, something that doesn’t look quite so wrecked as before. “You gotta be more careful though. Okay? I’ve seen some of those videos, and the things you’re doing -“

“Are safe,” Peter says, then, at Tony’s expression, amends, “Relatively safe.”

“Be safer,” Tony says. “Every time you go out, you tell JARVIS, or you tell me, and that's top priority, that does not get put to the back burner for some meeting or something I'm building, that is number one - and don't think you can get out of this, JARVIS is on you like a hawk, now, you've lost any trust you've built, you realize that, right?"

Peter frowns down at his shoes. "Yeah," he grumbles. "I realize that."

Tony sighs. "Your suit’ll need an upgrade, too, of course. I mean, this is shit, I can’t believe you’ve actually been going out to stop muggers dressed like a Midwesterner on the Fourth of July. You’re not allowed to go out until I get you a new suit, and that is final, I don’t care if I have to ban you from school for it to happen -“

“Really! Oh my god, Dad, thank you, this is going to be _awesome -“_

“You’re also grounded. Until next month, at least, but I reserve the right to extend it for as long as I deem necessary. The grounding includes your - Spidery activities.”

“Aw, Dad -“ Peter whines.

“No, no, nope, what happened to the gratitude, get back to the gratitude, you are _lucky_ it is a month and not a _decade,_ I wasn’t joking when I said you scared twenty-six years off of my life, I almost had a heart attack when I found this in your closet, and you know I’ve got a weak heart.”

Peter slumps a little. “Sorry,” he mutters.

From somewhere above him, Tony sighs. “Yeah, you should be sorry,” he says, but it doesn’t sound like his heart’s in it. “Just - don’t lie to me about this stuff again, okay? I know it’s hard to believe, but I really just want to protect you.”

“I know,” Peter says, “Dad, of course I know,” and he rises to give Tony a tight hug, almost bruising.

“Woah, kid,” Tony gasps, “bit tight, there,” and Peter realizes it really _is_ bruising, and jumps back guiltily. 

“Sorry,” he says, but Tony doesn’t look angry, is just scanning him with interest.

“What powers did you say you had again?”

Despite himself, Peter grins.

**Author's Note:**

> prompt can be found in the list here: https://petertonybigbang.tumblr.com/post/163878612738/prompts
> 
> to clarify, the prompt is from a list of starting ideas for a big bang, but after i wrote it i realized i wouldn't be able to expand it and just decided to post it as-is
> 
> on that note, if you are interested in joining the bb (artists are needed!!) you can do so at petertonybigbang.tumblr.com
> 
> (also if you spot any grammar/spelling mistakes, please point them out! really, any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.)


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